Optical fiber is highly desirable as a medium for transmitting, conditioning or even generating optical energy. Such optical energy can, but need not in all cases, carry information, such as voice or data signals. Optical fiber can, depending on its design, be suitable for use over long as well as short distances, provide low loss as well as a high bandwidth, and can be insensitive to electromagnetic interference. The bandwidth of a single optical fiber is enormous, and can be enlarged even further using optical multiplexing techniques.
In many applications the optical fiber being used is quite mechanically flexible, and must be used in longer lengths, such as when the fiber is used in, for example, amplifiers, lasers or delay lines. In such applications the fiber is typically wound about the outside of a support structure, such as a tube, such that the fiber can be more efficiently stored and take up less physical space, which can be at a premium. Such a technique for accommodating a longer length of fiber, though widespread, is not without certain disadvantages, and in certain instances improvements would be welcome.